A person on the deck of a surface vessel risks falling overboard. Whether or not an overboard person survives in the water depends upon the ability to retrieve the person from the water before the person drowns or succumbs to other hazards (e.g., hypothermia). However, several factors can impede the location and rescue of a person in the water including poor visibility, rough sea states, and an inability to circle back to the person's position (particularly for large vessels) upon becoming aware of a “man overboard” condition.
To facilitate water rescue efforts, particularly in adverse conditions, marine location markers can be used to mark the approximate position of a person in the water. Marine location markers can be pyrotechnic devices that provide a signal, in the form of smoke and fire, to would-be rescue craft. Marine location markers can also be electronic devices configured to provide one or more signals including visual, audible, and position signals. By responding to the signal of the marine location markers, would-be rescue craft can localize search efforts to the area most likely to contain the person overboard, thereby improving the probability of rescue.
Marine location markers can also be useful in other applications requiring a reference to a specific point on a body of water. For example, marine location markers can be used to mark the boundary of a chemical spill in the water. The subsequent movement of the marine location marker provides an indication of the spread of the chemical spill. In another example, marine location markers can be used to mark the position of a rendezvous point for two vessels. In still another example, marine location markers can be used to mark the position of an object (e.g., lost cargo) in the water.
Current MK 25/MK 58 Marine Location Markers are devices designed to provide visual reference to a specific point at sea. The units contain red phosphorous, which is no longer produced in North America and must be acquired from overseas sources, and other chemicals, which are blended to form the compound necessary for the MK 58 and MK 25 candles to produce flame and smoke. These units require careful storage and disposal because of their pyrotechnic nature (e.g., phosphorous by nature can spontaneously ignite).